Bahraini people hold fresh anti-regime protests

Dozens of people have rallied in Bahrain ahead of nationwide ceremonies in commemoration of political dissidents and pro-democracy campaigners killed at the hands of regime forces.

Demonstrators took to the streets in Sitra Island on Wednesday evening, chanting slogans against King Hamad and in condemnation of Saudi support for the Al Khalifa regime.

A similar rally was staged under the banner “Our Martyrs Are Immortal” in the western village of Shahrakan, where participants held up pictures of slain 17-year-old teenager Ali Abdulghani, whose family says died of injuries suffered during a police chase earlier this year.

The demonstrators also shouted slogans against the ruling Bahraini regime.

The rallies came as Bahrainis are preparing to hold anti-regime protests in the first few days of next year in memory of those killed by regime forces.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011.

They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and let a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to Bahrain to assist the Manama government in its crackdown.

Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown on anti-regime activists.